69% of Americans are open to letting AI make purchases on their behalf without approving each transaction, according to a Croud survey.
Three-quarters would use AI-powered instant checkout in at least one product category, with routine purchases attracting the most trust.
Amazon, Target, and Walmart are already integrating conversational or agentic AI into product discovery, cart building, and checkout.
Artificial intelligence is moving beyond recommending products and toward completing purchases, with a majority of Americans expressing a willingness to give the technology at least some buying authority.
Nearly seven in 10 Americans — 69% — would allow AI to purchase something for them without seeking approval for the individual transaction, according to the latest Croud Consumer Index. Three in four respondents said they would use an AI-powered instant-checkout service in at least one category.
The findings come from a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers conducted for Croud, a global media, data, and creative agency. They suggest shoppers may be more receptive to automated commerce than many brands assume, although the results were announced by the company that commissioned the research and should be viewed in that context. Croud’s press release did not disclose detailed field dates or a margin of error.
Consumers appear most comfortable delegating low-risk, repetitive purchases such as groceries and household essentials. Half said they would be comfortable allowing AI to buy products across at least three categories.
Not yet on autopilot
Yet shoppers are not necessarily surrendering judgment to machines. Among people who use AI, 73% consult large language models while researching products before selecting a particular brand. But 39% check an AI recommendation against four or more additional sources before purchasing, and more than one-third turn to YouTube for further validation.
That combination — machine-generated discovery followed by human reviews, creators, and other independent signals — is what Croud calls the “validation economy.”
“Ironically, AI is making the consumer journey more human, not less,” Croud U.S. CEO Val Davis said in the release. As AI introduces shoppers to more choices, she said, recommendations from creators and communities, customer reviews, and brand storytelling become increasingly important in converting interest into a sale.
Retailers are already preparing for that shift.
What retailers are already doing
Amazon’s shopping assistant, originally introduced as Rufus and renamed Alexa for Shopping in May 2026, can recommend and compare products, add multiple items to a cart, and reorder previous purchases. It can also automatically buy an item when its price falls to a customer-defined level.
Amazon says the system uses the shopper’s default payment and shipping information and provides a 24-hour cancellation window after an automated order is placed. The company also offers “Buy for Me,” through which its AI can purchase some products from other merchants. Amazon says more than 250 million customers used the assistant during 2026.
Target has embedded its assortment in several conversational platforms. Shoppers can browse and buy Target products through Google Search and Gemini, make purchases inside Microsoft Copilot, and use Target’s app in ChatGPT to receive recommendations, assemble multi-item baskets, and select shipping, pickup, or Drive Up.
Target says shoppers retain control and confirm their purchases, distinguishing these services from fully autonomous buying. The retailer reported that traffic arriving from AI platforms rose 2,000% year over year during the first quarter. Target detailed the integrations in June.
Walmart-Google partnership
Walmart is pursuing a similar model. Its partnership with Google is designed to surface Walmart and Sam’s Club products during Gemini conversations and connect product discovery with customers’ carts, purchase histories, and membership benefits.
Walmart has also announced a shopping integration with ChatGPT. Its planned Gemini experience can recommend complementary products and support delivery from local stores, including some orders arriving in as little as 30 minutes. Walmart has described agent-led commerce as the next major evolution in retail.
The Croud research also points to a potentially lucrative opportunity in fashion. Consumers who use AI while shopping for clothing spend 56% more than non-users, according to the survey, and are 23% more likely to search by style or aesthetic instead of relying on conventional brand or product keywords.